WEST
OAKLAND
SOUND
SERIES
 

a weekly new music and experimental sound series every sunday
presented by new performance traditions and sfSound

 

dresher ensemble studio :: 2201 poplar street, oakland california

ample parking! please park perpendicular when past the trees on poplar
$10-$25 sliding scale (cash & venmo accepted at door - order advance here)
 

concerts start promptly at 7:15
:: late arrivals follow instructions on door to get buzzed in ::

 

previous concerts

 

submit a proposal to perform!

July 27 2025  7:15pm

ERNST KAREL presents his multichannel, ongoing iterative work, Atmospheric Rivers. This piece’s subject is a key component of the global water cycle: the enormous streams of concentrated water vapor which flow through the sky from the tropics towards the poles, releasing heavy rain in high wind, particularly in the western U.S, and anticipated to increase in frequency and intensity with climate change. Performed in surround sound, the piece consists of unprocessed stereo and multichannel location recordings of atmospheric rivers, made over the past few years, as they pass by our house at the rocky northern California coast.


 

THE GLITCH BLOOM (EDA ER & DANNIEL RIBEIRO) operates in an indefinable musical territory where the lines between composed work, improvisation, and multimedia blur into a distinctive sonic fusion. Their artistic practice combines vocals, electronic elements, electric guitar, and video with transducers, unconventional playing techniques, and sculptural objects, establishing a fluid relationship between planned structure and spontaneous creation. Founded on mutual investigation of sound possibilities, collaborative processes, and multimedia integration, Glitch Bloom embraces unexpected outcomes—where harsh sounds intermingle with melodic elements, acoustic manipulations transform through electronic processing, and sound manifests as both physical and transient. Their performances create immersive environments that explore the convergence of music, physical movement, and visual components to deliver an experience that defies traditional classification.

 

 

SADA is a vocal duo between SARAH GRACE GRAVES and EDA ER, both singers and composers who each stumbled upon experimental music somewhat unexpectedly: Graves began her artistic path as a choral singer, Er as an actor. In combining Graves’ innocent virtuosity with Er’s disarming honesty, the two hope to build a narrative, aesthetic, and technical habitat for stories only they can tell.
 

August 3 2025  7:15pm

KYLE BRUCKMANN, oboe, BEN DAVIS, cello, and NIKITA MANIN, clarinet are musicians sitting in the gap between the notated and improvised music worlds. In this smooth/scratchy trio of acoustic wooden instruments they collaborate in the spontaneous construction of rich musical forms. Their sonic world is dense, multidimensional and filled with holes. They invite the listener to get stuck within.

 

Filipino-American guitarist/composer KARL EVANGELISTA ranks among the vanguard of musicians pushing the traditions of jazz and experimental music into the future. Synthesizing the heavy legacy of contemporary improvised music with popular song and 20th century composition, Evangelista explores multicultural concepts with sonic intensity and political fervor. Signal to Noise magazine hails Evangelista as "one of the most original instrumentalists and composers of his generation," and as the creative force behind boundary-breaking group Grex, Evangelista's music has been called an "otherworldly experience" (Eugene Weekly) and "a near-seamless blend of modern jazz, contemporary structuralist composition, indie rock, and blues rock" (Tiny Mix Tapes). He is joined by local stalwarts  FRANCIS WONG (saxophone) and JORDAN GLENN (drums) in a trio of free improvisations.

 



 

August 17 2025  7:15pm

In the perfect environment for close listening, the two cellos and saxophone TRIO BEN DAVIS - FRED LONBERG-HOLM - LARRY OCHS invite you, the avid listeners, to join the musicians in enjoying their spontaneous but carefully sculpted music as it happens, in real time. Through repeated performances, musical discussions after shows and rehearsals, this music slowly but confidently evolves. And the audience and the performance environment matter. There's no more perfect environment than Paul Dresher’s studio space in which to hear the intimate improvisations that this trio hopes to deliver.

 

ERIC THEISE presents a set of performances, solo and in collaboration with ABIGAIL HINSON (movement) and local musicians. The concert involves an invented, map-driven sound maker; dance improvisations over a map animation project onto the floor; and improvised cartography projected onto the back wall that responding to music and dance. Theise's work was recently seen atop San Francisco's Salesforce Tower Top.

August 24 2025  7:15pm

THE SAN FRANCISCO TAPE MUSIC COLLECTIVE presents their summer east bay festival of fixed media works projected live over a 16-channel Meyer Sound System. Featuring a wide range of works by international composers and collective members.

PROPOSALS

Our focus is on the bay area experimental and new music community, hopefully encouraging crossover among sub-scenes (composition and improvisation; established and emerging; institutional and underground; etc.) We strongly suggest local musicians attend concerts before requesting to perform on the series. Visiting aritsts are also welcome, ideally splitting a concert with local musicians.

We are also seeking compositions (in all forms of notation) to be performed by the sfSoundGroup.

We have a 92-key (down to a Low F!) 1953 Bösendorfer 7’4” Model 225 Piano (no sostenuto pedal; inside/prepared is OK). The venue hosts a Meyer Sound System, drum kit, additional piano, lighting, and projection equipment.

Please send proposals to mattingalls@me.com

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